Skywalker's Sanctuary
by TheFaceofaHero
Summary: Post TFA. When Rey and Luke face danger in the form of the Knights of Ren, Anakin Skywalker intervenes.
From meeting Luke Skywalker to becoming his apprentice to being pursued by the Knights of Ren - Rey's life these past few months has been crazier than a sandstorm on Jakku. Her master demonstrates perfectly well how good a pilot he still is. He outmaneuveres the Knights, and takes the Falcon in a divebomb towards a floating structure.

It's vast in size and it's calling to them. Rey can feel it, her Master can feel it.

There's a blinding flash of light and her world goes dark.

She awakens in the middle of combat. Two creatures are fighting over her and Master Skywalker, who himself is already on his feet, saber in hand. The beasts cease their scuffle, and as one, settle their eyes on the pair of humans. Then they're snatched up and flown to a monastery posed somewhere on the rocky highlands.

As ridiculous and unlikely as the scenario unfolding before her is, Rey can't help but notice how strong the Force is on this planet. It flows freely like a roaring waterfall, and she loves it.

Master Skywalker and she are dropped to the floor, and are shoved along. They stop in front of a tall flight of stairs, upon which sits a simple granite throne. It's occupied by a hooded figure, who sits with his fingers steepled. She catches glints of silver and gunmetal from the recess of the hood, and frowns. The being rises and commands, "Leave us."

Rey whips her head round, and her eyes widen. A Togruta and a Zabrak bow their heads and obey. Shapeshifters? It's got to be the only explanation. She turns back and the man is lifting his hood up. The sight that befalls Rey makes her hands shoot to her mouth and she fails to stifle a gasp. Master Skywalker's gaze is unfocused, his lips slightly parted.

The man before them is... well, there's no kind way to put it.

He's an abomination. Bits of durasteel mar his face. One of his eyes is pure sapphire, the other a black cyber-prosthesis. "You'll have to excuse the lack of symmetry," he quips. He seems comfortable in his own skin, but it's not his appearance that shocks Rey the most. His presence is a supernova, whirling around him. He's engulfed both in light and darkness, a foot in each world. She's never felt anything like it before.

Suddenly he is right in front of them, vanishing and reforming in great puffs of smoke. He summons Rey's saber to him and gives it a once-over. "This was mine once. You should really get your own." He throws the cylinder back to her.

Her mind is reeling from all the confusion, and her master only has to add to it. "Father," he whispers.

"Son." There is so much pride and warmth and joy in that one syllable.

"Er... what?" she blurts, features pinched in discomfiture. "I'm totally lost here."

"I believe introductions are in order," hums the man. "My name's Anakin Skywalker. And you are?"

Rey is winded. This was Anakin Skywalker? "But you're Darth Vader!"

She misses Luke's wince, but notices Anakin turn serious. "I used to be that. But I was brought back to the light. By my son." His gaze settles on Luke. "Once I was many things. Slave, Jedi Knight, scourge of the galaxy. In this realm, I'm the maintainer of balance. The Fulcrum, if you will."

"Hold on. If he's dead and we're here, does that mean we're dead too?" she asks the bearded Skywalker, alarmed.

Luke wryly arches an eyebrow, and his eyes flick over to Anakin. "Well?" He sounds way too calm, Rey thinks. She bites her lip, waiting for a reply.

"Neither of you are one with the Force."

"I think we've got a whole lot to discuss," concludes Luke sagely.

"Oh you've no idea." Anakin's grin is wicked. "Your name, young one?" He addresses Rey.

"I'm Rey, Master Skywalker's Padawan."

"Excellent. With that done and sorted, let's walk and talk."

Master Skywalker and his father talk. She excuses herself, to give Master Skywalker some space. His shields are drawn extraordinarily taut. He closes himself off when he is feeling very emotional, she's noticed. This is one of those instances.

"You've chosen well. She's strong in the Force."

"I didn't choose her. It's more of a case of her finding me and demanding to be trained."

"I'm so proud of you, Luke. You've accomplished so much."

"It was all for nothing," Luke lets his head drop, and emits a ragged sigh. "My Order is gone. I tried so hard to rebuild. To restore the Jedi. Everything turned to dust."

"Restoring the Jedi Order was the right thing to do. And you did it well." Luke gives his father a look. "And even now, the Jedi are not gone. Do not despair, my son. Hope remains." Anakin lays a hand on his shoulder. "The only thing I'm sad about is that you had to fix my mistakes, and that there're so many of them. You're a better Skywalker than I was. A better Jedi. I wish..." Anakin looks away for a second. "I wish I could have said all of this to you sooner.

"I tried to... when I sensed the Knights of Ren storming the Temple, I - I tried to escape. I wanted to help. But there were consequences." Anakin gestures to his face. Luke swallows thickly. Tears well in the corners of his eyes.

"Father, you shouldn't have - "

"I couldn't help you then, but I'll be damned if I let a bunch of Vader clones kill my son. That's why you're here. I'm granting you and Rey sanctuary."

Silences bleeds in between them, causing a lull in the conversation.

Outside, Rey is wandering around the arena. A certain Togruta perches on the battlements, observing her. "You look bored."

Rey starts, looks up. Her defensive nature kicks in. It helped her on Jakku and it still helps her now.

"Relax, I don't bite." The Togruta drops down, and Rey stares. Her orange skin is cracked in webs. Her crystalline eyes, however, are the brightest she's ever seen. Not to mention the glow coming off of her...

"Who are you?"

"I was once Ahsoka Tano. Now I'm the Avatar of Light. A repetitive job. Not many visitors. You're the first, I think." Tano shakes her head with a fond smile. "Anakin's breaking the rules again."

Rey doesn't sense any danger from Tano, not like she did from Kylo Ren or the other Knights.

"Wanna spar?" offers Tano.

She warily accepts the invitation and regrets it when Tano pierces her shoulder with one of her sabers.

Rey howls and jumps away. "You stabbed me!" she accuses, clutching the cauterized area.

"It was an accident. Lemme look at that." She presses a palm over the wound, and ignores Rey's flinch. It's sealed up completely by the time she removes her hand.

"There. Good as new," Tano states. "Ever use the Force for healing?"

"Not like that. Not that fast."

"That's because Mortis is a conduit of the Force. The planet's an amplifier and a magnet."

"Magnet?"

"I'm sure Anakin did something or other to lure you here. Maybe a subtle suggestion, or a distress signal... He's in charge of the whole place."

"So, he's like your master?"

Tano keeps her tone neutral. "He was, a long time ago."

"In this hellish cycle, he still is," interrupts a masculine voice.

Tano's visage hardens, making the cracks stand out more. "Maul."

The Zabrak from earlier is approaching them. "This is a prison, a sentence for all eternity. Skywalker's our overlord. Don't deny it." His sulfur gaze falls on Rey. "Ah yes, the visitor. How goes the tour?" He smirks.

"Well," spits Rey.

"It's about to get better."

Then he morphes into a horned gargoyle and rushes her. Tano jumps into the fray, in beast form, and blindsides the Avatar of Darkness. She resumes her humanoid form and spears the gargoyle with her blades. To Rey's bewilderment, it's not felled. It throws Tano off, and after a short struggle, flies off with Rey in its claws. Maul's talons grip her outstretched arms securely, and she is dumped on the bottom of a volcanic crater.

She shivers as she clambers to her feet. Despite the lava, there's a deep chill unlike any other that perforates the crater.

Back at the monastery, Luke stumbles as he feels his Padawan's panic surge across their bond. Anakin steadies him.

"It's Rey. She needs our help," he tells his father. "I swear, I leave that girl for five minutes and she's already in some kind of trouble..."

Ahsoka rushes up to the Skywalkers and they tell her they already know. "Maul took her," she explains.

"Maul?"

"The Zabrak."

"Why would he take her?"

"Maul feeds on chaos," Anakin reminds Luke, "he's the embodiment of the Dark Side, after all. And right now, he's most likely in the Well. Ahsoka, you can take Luke."

Ahsoka rolls her eyes. "I'm not a speeder-taxi."

"No, you're right. You're a griffin-taxi."

"Shut up, Anakin." She assumes her beast form, and lowers herself for Luke to climb on. Anakin watches with unbound glee.

Luke asks, "What about you? You hopping on?"

"Nah. I got these." A set of wings snap out from behind his back.

"You can fly now?" Luke squeaks, mind-boggled.

"And do plenty of other stuff. I might show you some of it after we get your apprentice back."

Within the Well, Rey is assaulted by waves of soul-crushing darkness. "What - why? Why are you doing this?"

"So much anger, so much hatred... it's because of him, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

And then he's standing right there. "Kylo Ren," he says with the same mechanical voice, wearing the same outfit, carrying the same lightsaber.

She swings through smoke, and the image melts away like candlewax.

Maul laughs at her torment. "You wish him dead. That can be arranged."

The fog clears and Anakin and Master Skywalker are beside her. Her master gets off a griffin that shifts into the Avatar of Light.

Master Skywalker looks like he's just about ready to cut Maul down there and then, but his father stays his hand. "You've gone too far," declares Anakin.

"I know your offspring is off-limits," Maul counters, "but you never said a thing about the girl."

The Fulcrum's eyes darken. "You still shouldn't have done that." Over his shoulder he glances at the others. "Go back to the monastery while I deal with Maul."

The griffin flaps her humongous wings and soars up out of the volcanic crater as Rey and Master Skywalker cling onto her.

Anakin lifts Maul into the air and Force-chokes him, watching in satisfaction as the Zabrak claws at his throat. "Do not interrupt my plans. Do not harm my guests. Do not play mind games with them. Do I make myself clear?" he growls after he releases Maul.

"Crystal."

"Good." He folds his hands behind his back. "Have you made any progress on finding a cure for Ahsoka?"

Maul straightens, hacking out a cough. "Nothing to be found yet. The Force reveals nothing."

"Well work harder then!"

"You're the one concerned for Lady Tano. Shouldn't you be the one searching for a cure?"

"Don't be a moron. Of course I am. Of course I've been doing that. But the Well of the Dark Side is your home. You should know how to fix your own mistake."

"I never inflicted that illness upon her."

"So you keep saying."

Later, he visits Luke. "Is Rey alright?"

"She's fine. She's actually meditating right now, so I wouldn't disturb her if I were you."

A smile tugs at Anakin's lips. "The master knows best."

That earns a grimace from Luke.

"You needn't blame yourself for your nephew's fall."

"I... I should've done more. I thought I could sway him from the Dark Side."

"Luke, he wants to embrace the darkness. There's nothing you could have said or done that'd work."

"He worships Darth Vader. He even has the old mask and everything."

"I know. He tried to speak with me numerous times."

"Did you ever answer?"

"No. I never would've gotten through to him, anyway." Anakin stares out the window of Luke's room. "I believe it's past time I had a word with my grandson."

In space, Kylo Ren hears the call of the monolith. It pulses and throbs, brushing against his mental defences. He flies closer and is thrown into the blackness of sleep. When he comes to there's somebody waiting for him. Tall. Armoured. Caped.

Kylo knows immediately who he is. "Lord Vader." He hastily kneels.

Lord Vader stares impassively at him for a moment. Kylo won't admit he feels sweat coil at the base of his neck.

"Hi, grandson."

His lordship pauses. "Seriously, stop kneeling. You look ridiculous."

"But I wear this in honour of you, grandfather." He sees the darkness swirl around his grandfather.

Lord Vader looks like he's - sagging. Darth Vader does not _sag_. "Why do you want to be like me?"

"...What?"

"Don't you want to be your own person? Are you going to stay as Snoke's puppet forever?"

The Knight clenches his fists. "The galaxy needs a strong leader to rule it. My master is that leader."

"Then you're a bigger fool than he is," says Vader harshly.

He recoils. This doesn't sound like his grandfather. "I promise, grandfather, I will not make the same mistakes you did. I will never surrender to the light."

"A life of pain, a life of slavery. Is that what you want? You want pain?" The bass voice turns into something less mechanical, but still harsh. "I'll show you pain." Vader thrusts his hand out and lightning crackles from his fingertips, striking Kylo Ren in the chest, and he flies backwards.

"There were never any records of Darth Vader using Force Lightning," exclaims Kylo through the pain, the pain that's splitting his head and numbing his chest.

"No, of course not. But here, I make the rules. I can do whatever the hell I want." Vader reaches for his helmet and tears it off, discarding it in the grass.

"Take a good long hard look." He strides forward. "This is what the Dark Side does." Vader's ashen face twists into a snarl. "It'll use you, make you suffer until you become nothing. You think sentimentality is a weakness? My love for my son saved me."

He can't take any more of this. Kylo attacks this - this imposter. But he doesn't duck out of the way. He grasps Kylo's blade, calmly, and extinguishes the lightsaber. He reveals his true form.

"Who are you?"

"Your grandfather." Anakin plants a sleep suggestion in the Darksider's mind, and watches his frame go limp.

Rey explains. Ahsoka understands. She points out where to search, and Rey gathers the parts required. She comes to Anakin after he's returned with Kylo Ren slung over his shoulder. She quirks her eyebrows and tells him she wants to build her own saber.

Anakin drops Kylo Ren off, and proceeds to lead Rey to the crystal caverns. "It's no Ilum, but it'll provide you with what you need. I'm off to rehabilitate my grandson. Joy." He makes a face and leaves.

The Force resonates with her in these caverns. She soon finds a comfortable spot. Sitting crosslegged, she commences the task of construction.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

She enhances her focus.

She wills all her strength towards the hovering components which buzz within arm's reach.

She keeps her eyes shut as the parts align.

The pieces join together, and she somehow feels whole. Feels alive.

The weapon is an extension of her - no. She mouths the word again. This lightsaber is her life. She now understands what that means.

An exhale.

Brown eyes snap onto the cylinder and she plucks it out of the air.

She stands up.

Ignites it.

Her weapon. Her life.

 **Fin**


End file.
